Improved mode of treating conglomerates of cast-iron



BLAIR, of the city of Pittsburg, in the county of Alboth combined, or with methods of treatment hithertocmployed for convcrting them into wrought-iron; and i i into the reverberatory furnace for conversion.

unbroken,- a considerable amount of labor will be rcexposure of all thepart-stohcat. i

broken, the cellular or spongy character of the mass renders-it a .bad conductor of heat, and a wasteful workman is obliged to bestow a large amount of labor tirely mechanical, and the purpose of the present invention is to supply a mechanical remedy'thercfor,

mic cgww theme "sOH ENBERGERf BL IR,

or rirrsruae; PENNSYLVANIA.

f am raamlvaemar, dated December 14, 1 869.

fmrnovnb MODE or Tana-mm CONGLOMERA'IES or casr-rnolv'.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters iatent and making part of the same.

To all 'whomit may concern:

Be' it known that I, THO AS ScHoEuBnneEn legheny, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented an Improved Treatment of Conglomerates of Oast- Iron, and other substances; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description of the said invention, reference being had to the accompanying. drawing, and to the figures and letters marked thereon; thatis tdsayy p i I This invention relates to the treatment of pigbl'oomjhoweverproduced, whether with oxides alone, as a mixture, or with carbonaceous matter alone, or

I any other substanceemployed as'a chemical agenttherewith. p

I have found that such conglomerates, or pigbloomsfas they are termed, are, for reasons herein after expla'inedfdifiicult ofmanagement, underthe The object of my present invention is toobviatc these difficulties by anoperation intermediate between the'production of the pig-bloom andfits introduction The difiiculties referred to may be described as follows:

First, if'the pig-bloomsbe charged into the furnace quired to break them up in time to obtain an eqnable i Second, if the pig-blooms are. allowed to remain unamonnt of timepis required to bring the interior of each bloom f to natureJQ i f Third, if the conglomerate be made in the shape of pig-scrap, on if the pig-blooms be broken up into scrap, and the charge be put into the reverberatory furnace cold, the furnace-bottom is chilled tosuch an extent that it does not recover its proper temperature during the working of the charge, to the, great disadvantage of the operation." In addition to this, the

on it to keep-the colder portion continually turned up from beneath. i i 3 In each of the aboi'enlethods, 'the chemical operations .are, with proper care and skill, successfully carried out, andt-lle conglomerate converted into good wrought-iron. p l 1 The difiiculties involved in the treatment are en- My improved process is founded on the fact, ascertained .by experiment, that the pig-bloom is very friable when first raised to a red heat; and l 7 My invention consists in first raising the pig-bloom to such a heat as will render it friable, and, while in that state, reducing it to small fragments, and intro-i ducing it at once, before it has time to cool, into the reverberatory'furnace.

For this purpose, I employ a heatingfurnace, so

.constrncted as to impart the requisite heat to the pig-blooms, from which furnace they are drawn consecutively, and subjected to the action of a crushingapparatus, which instantly reduces them to scrap, which again, with the least possible loss of heat, is charged into the reverborat-ory furnace.

By this method, the workman receives a charge ready delivered into his -furnace, requiring no breaking up, and very little turning over, and which cools the furnace bottom soslightly as not to retard seriously the working of the charge.

It will be obvious to all skilled in the art, that a great variety of forms and arrangements of furnaces, and apparatus for the heating, crushing, and delivery of the conglomerate, may be employed, and it is a great advantage that these admit of many modifier tions, as it is thereby rendered easy to adapt the above on rails, which leave a space between them and the floor, so that the heat is applied in such amanner as torequire no turning over of the blooms. They thus require no handling beyond the charging and drawing.

In front of the drawing-side'of the heating-chamber is set a crushing-machine, (which may consist either of one or'more pairs of rolls, or of a stone-crusher, or of any similar suitable machine of known construc- .tion,) so placed that the bloom will readily fall into it when drawn from the chamber, and that the resulting crushed material -'or scrap shall falL directly into a wagon or car, which shall. convey the charge thence to any suitable reverberatory furnace of l nown"construction. i 3 i p i The apparatus which I propose to use needs no particular description, and needs not to hesueh, ox

act-1y, as I have described, as any mode of ,or apparatus for heating the pig-bloom, and reducing it, while hot, to small fragments, may be employed which \vill'inost conveniently and effectually accomplish the purpose.

Having thus described the nature of my invention,

' and in what manner the same is to be performed,

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patentis lhe before-described improved treatment of pigbloom, wherein the pig-bloom is first heated to the requisite degree to render it friable, is then crushed, and the crushed material charged at once into a reverberatory furnace, with the least possible loss of heat.

' In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence'of two subscribing witnesses, this 10th day of August, 1869.

THO. S. BLAIR. Witnesses:

Ones. D. ABEL, A. W. TAYLOR. 

